Bahalda is a small town in the

Mayurbhanj district Mayurbhanj district is one of the 30 districts in Odisha state in eastern India. It is the largest district of Odisha by area. Its headquarters are at Baripada. Other major towns are Rairangpur, Karanjia and Udala. , it is the third-most-popu ...

of northern

Odisha Odisha (English: , ), formerly Orissa ( the official name until 2011), is an Indian state located in Eastern India. It is the 8th largest state by area, and the 11th largest by population. The state has the third largest population of ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. Bahalda is the second largest town in the Bamanghaty subdivision, and was the capital of Mayurbhanj in the 14th century. Maa Kichakeswari Temple, one of the most famous in northern Odisha, sits in the town.

Geography

Bahalda is located at . It has an average elevation of . It is situated 57 km away from

Jamshedpur Jamshedpur (, ) or Tatanagar is the largest and most populous city in Jharkhand and the first planned industrial city in India. It is a Notified Area Council and Municipal Corporation and also the headquarter of the East Singhbhum district. It ...

and 97 km away from

Baripada Baripada () is a city and a municipality in Mayurbhanj district in the state of Odisha, India. Located along the east bank of the Budhabalanga river, Baripada is the cultural centre of north Odisha. In recent years, it has emerged as an educ ...

, the district headquarters and 300 km away from State capital Bhubaneswar.

People

The majority of the population in the area are tribals, predominantly Ho and

Santals The Santal or Santhal are an Austroasiatic speaking Munda ethnic group in South Asia. Santals are the largest tribe in the Jharkhand and West Bengal state of India in terms of population and are also found in the states of Odisha, Bihar and A ...

. The town has a small market place and weekly haat. It is one of the gateways to

Jharkhand Jharkhand (; ; ) is a state in eastern India. The state shares its border with the states of West Bengal to the east, Chhattisgarh to the west, Uttar Pradesh to the northwest, Bihar to the north and Odisha to the south. It has an area of . It ...

state. Annual sports are popular, which is celebrated at par with the festivals.

Administration

It has a police station, Tahsildar office, block offices, post office, and forest office. There are also a number of banks, including branches of the

Bank of India Bank of India (BOI) is an Indian public sector bank headquartered in Bandra Kurla Complex, Mumbai. Founded in 1906, it has been government-owned since nationalisation in 1969. BoI is a founder member of SWIFT (Society for Worldwide Inter B ...

State Bank of India State Bank of India (SBI) is an Indian multinational public sector bank and financial services statutory body headquartered in Mumbai, Maharashtra. SBI is the 49th largest bank in the world by total assets and ranked 221st in the ''Fortune ...

Bandhan Bank Bandhan Bank Ltd. is a banking and financial services company, headquartered in Kolkata. Bandhan Bank is present in 34 out of 36 states and union territories of India, with 5,646 banking outlets and more than 2.77 crore customers. Having re ...

, Mayurbhanj central co-operative bank, and the

Odisha Gramya Bank Odisha Gramya Bank (OGB) ( or, ଓଡ଼ିଶା ଗ୍ରାମ୍ୟ ବ୍ୟାଙ୍କ) is a Regional Rural Bank established on 7 January 2013 with the amalgamation of ''Neelachala Gramya Bank'' (Odia: ନୀଳାଚଳ ଗ୍ରାମ� ...

. Local schools include a government high school, a girls' high school, and Ananda Marga, a private primary school, among others.

Transport

It is connected with the state capital

Bhubaneswar Bhubaneswar (; ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Odisha. The region, especially the old town, was historically often depicted as ''Ekamra Kshetra'' (area (''kshetra'') adorned with mango trees (''ekamra'')). Bhubaneswar is ...

by bus which are plied during the night. The nearest railway station is Bahalda Rd on Tata-Badampahar rail route.

Temples

Kichakeswari Temple is sited in Bahalda, the capital of Mayurbhanj kingdom in the 14th century. It lies at a distance of 97 km from Baripada. Dedicated to Goddess Kichakeswari, the temple is known for its architectural beauty.

Politics

The current MLA from Bahalda Assembly Constituency is Prahlad Purty of JMM, who won the seat in the 2004 State elections. Previous MLAs from this seat were Laxman Soren of

BJP The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; ; ) is a political party in India, and one of the two major Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. Since 2014, it has been the ruling political party in India under Narendra Modi ...

who won this seat in 2000, Khelaram Mahali who won in 1995 representing

JPP J.P.P. is a group of Finnish folk musicians from Kaustinen. The group still uses the Kaustinen traditional settings with fiddles, harmonium and double bass, although their arrangements are more advanced than those of earlier generations of tra ...

and as an independent candidate in 1990, Bagey Gobardhan of JNP in 1985, Rama Chandra Hansda of INC(I) in 1980, and Sunaram Soren of JNP in 1977. Bahalda is a part of the

Mayurbhanj Mayurbhanj district is one of the 30 districts in Odisha state in eastern India. It is the largest district of Odisha by area. Its headquarters are at Baripada. Other major towns are Rairangpur, Karanjia and Udala. , it is the third-most-popu ...

constituency.

References

{{Mayurbhanj district Cities and towns in Mayurbhanj district